Roast

This should be hot, garlicky, and spicy, a dish you want to serve over rice or with crusty bread; once the shrimp juices have mingled with it, the sauce is irresistible. Although it’s a perfect weeknight dish, this also makes a great appetizer at a dinner party.

Nori, the familiar seaweed used for rolling sushi, is a popular snack in Korea, especially when treated this way. And if you use the pieces of nori to pick up clumps of rice—a common after-school snack—you may find yourself making this frequently.

A well-known standard, this marinated salad combines the sweetness of peppers with the saltiness of anchovies and capers, using a good olive oil to tie all the flavors together. You can use jarred roasted peppers (“pimientos”) for this if you like. Canned or jarred piquillo peppers (page 47) are better, but still not as good as peppers you roast yourself. The best anchovies commonly available are sold in jars, packed in olive oil. It’s best to make this salad ahead of time so the flavors marry. Eat this at lunch, as a starter, or as a side dish with something flavorful, like Beef Stew with Dried Mushrooms (page 380).

You can stuff any vegetable you like, from onions to zucchini, but peppers and tomatoes are the most popular because they have the best natural shapes, are attractive and flavorful, and, in the case of peppers, are already hollow. (Tomatoes are easily hollowed out, and their pulp can be used in the stuffing.)

North African spices enhance the smoky flavor of the peppers here, and the preserved lemon—which you can buy at a specialty shop or make yourself (page 598)—makes it exotic. You can prepare this salad ahead of time since it is best after marinating for an hour or so. For extra color, use bell peppers of a couple of different colors.

These are not elaborate, like the stuffed tomatoes in the preceding recipe, but are essentially seasoned baked tomatoes you can throw together in a hurry. The tomatoes themselves should be ripe and delicious, though ironically this treatment is a good one for green tomatoes as well.

Eggplant is everywhere in the Middle East; you see it as often as you do tomatoes. Here are three takes on a creamy, mild dish of eggplant and yogurt. The first relies on the charred flavor you get when you grill or broil eggplant; especially when seasoned this way, it’s really the best. The variations are easier and still very good. As always, small eggplants are best; regardless of size, they should be as firm as you can find.

This salad is a popular item on the Sabbath table of Moroccan Jews. It’s at its best after sitting in the dressing for a couple of hours; in fact, you can store it for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Beets are earthy and sweet; horseradish is earthy and seismic; the combination is fortuitous. Fresh horseradish is best, but you can substitute prepared horseradish if necessary (make sure the jar hasn’t been opened for too long, or the horseradish will have lost its intensity). This salad is best after marinating in the refrigerator for a day or two, so prepare it ahead of time if you think of it.

This takes a little time and a little care; the chicken must be browned fully before you add the vegetables, since the liquid they exude will stop the browning process. If you like, you can strain this stock and reduce it over high heat to a cup or two of shiny glaze, enough to make a flavorful sauce for meat, chicken, fish, or vegetables (store the sauce as you would the stock itself). To make this even richer and darker, substitute beef or veal (using the same cuts you’d use for beef stock, page 160) for some or all of the chicken.

Brilliant orange pumpkinlike squash fill the vegetable stands of Morocco and most other Mediterranean countries every fall, and they show up in stews, couscous, pasta, and soups like this.You may find the same squash in the States, but butternut, acorn, or sugar pumpkin—pumpkin grown for flavor, not size—are perfect substitutes and easy enough to find. (Canned pumpkin is an acceptable if not ideal alternative; drain it well.) Make this up to a day in advance, reserving the cream and cilantro to add just before serving.

Ignacio Blanco is a friend from Galicia, the northwestern corner of Spain. He taught me this delicious (and, yes, traditional, though it is cooked) gazpacho. Best made in August, when all these vegetables are at their peak.

Somewhere between a vegetable dish and a salsa, this is great as a topping for simple grilled fish or chicken. If you have a gas grill, you can make this almost effortlessly; it’s easy, too, when you’ve started a charcoal fire for another purpose.

Its flavor bears no resemblance to real caviar, its ingredients (except for the salt) have nothing to do with caviar, but its texture—supposedly—is akin to that of caviar. If there are enough seeds in your eggplant—not necessarily a good thing—I suppose you could argue that its graininess is like that of caviar. In any case, it’s a wonderful spread for Crostini (page 41), as a dip for fresh vegetables, or as a stuffing for roasted peppers or tomatoes (pages 492).

Salted nuts are made wherever they’re grown and are infinitely better than nuts from a jar or can. Note that these are not fried—there is no additional oil—but roasted. This basic, easy recipe can also be used for whole almonds or hazelnuts.